A DREADFUL second round extended Simon Dyson’s cut-off desert doldrums.

For the third tournament in a row, the 37-year-old fell short of making the weekend action when he missed the midway cut in the Omega Dubai Classic.

Dyson was comfortably placed after a one-under-par first round, but torment befell the world number 131 in yesterday’s second round at the Emirates Golf Club.

He shot a six-over-par 78 that included two double bogeys - a six on the par-four sixth and a seven on the par-five tenth. He also dropped shots on the fifth and ninth holes to miss out as he had done in his last two outings - the HSBC Abu Dhabi Desert Championship and last week’s Qatar Masters.

World number one Rory McIlroy’s peerless power and precision put him in pole position in Dubai.

The Northern Irishman produced a superb bogey-free eight-under-par 64 to take a one-shot lead over Scotland’s Marc Warren at 14-under.

McIlroy underlined his class by closing with three successive birdies but, even so, he would have come off the course with the feeling he could have gone even lower on a track where he recorded his maiden professional victory in 2009.

That shows how far the 24-year-old’s expectations have risen in the six years since he lifted the title at the Emirates GC, during which time he has won four majors, with two of those coming in the last six months.

“It was good. I hit a couple of loose shots early on but found my rhythm and after that I played pretty well and converted most of my chances,” he said.

“You can’t ask for much more: bogey-free, eight birdies. I’ve set myself up nicely for a good run at it in the next couple of days.

“I’ve put the work in and I’ve worked hard; I continue to work hard and this is the result, which is nice."